Damage to Car claim refused by Council

misssarahleigh

At the end of my road at work their was an deeply sunken exposed grate. I complained about this and it was eventually given a temporary repair as the council believed the property belonged to the water board (as it turns out it wasnt). I emailed them on 3 occasions to ask them to review the temporary repair. Citing that it was so poor it made no difference to the safety of the road.

Pictures of the before and after below

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uajnmnt05zyk0gm/2015-01-06%2016.43.28.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hwj8482n7tp63zr/2015-01-13%2012.51.04.jpg?dl=0

My partner collected me from work one night. It was dark, he wasn't aware of the condition of the road and hit it rather badly. The next day to work his car felt odd so he took it to the garage and his spring was broken. We both felt it was a direct result of hitting the hole at an odd angle. (which you cannot avoid doing)

I wrote to the council who claimed they were not liable because

First letter: They were unaware of this issue (but included two reports in the pack from different people reporting the manhole)

Second letter: Wasn't their problem to fix it

Third letter: It was their problem to fix and did so temporarily.


There were more letters. I expressed that they were responsible because they were.

A. Fully aware of the issue
B. Aware a complaint had been made about the temporary fix
C. Could provide no documents relating to the temporary fix

Despite this they implied it was my partners fault for knowing about the road (I pointed out if it was safe like they said, he wouldn't have to know to drive around it, especially since this would mean driving on the opposite side of the road at a junction) and that despite me formally complaining about the repair done, they declined to go back to evaluate as it was passed off as safe.

Do you think it is worth pursuing? Before doing so I wanted a second opinion on my circumstances.

Iceweasel

If you are a member of the AA or RAC they should be able to fight this for you.

DUTR

misssarahleigh wrote: »

At the end of my road at work their was an deeply sunken exposed grate. I complained about this and it was eventually given a temporary repair as the council believed the property belonged to the water board (as it turns out it wasnt). I emailed them on 3 occasions to ask them to review the temporary repair. Citing that it was so poor it made no difference to the safety of the road.

Pictures of the before and after below

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uajnmnt05zyk0gm/2015-01-06%2016.43.28.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hwj8482n7tp63zr/2015-01-13%2012.51.04.jpg?dl=0

My partner collected me from work one night. It was dark, he wasn't aware of the condition of the road and hit it rather badly. The next day to work his car felt odd so he took it to the garage and his spring was broken. We both felt it was a direct result of hitting the hole at an odd angle. (which you cannot avoid doing)

I wrote to the council who claimed they were not liable because

First letter: They were unaware of this issue (but included two reports in the pack from different people reporting the manhole)

Second letter: Wasn't their problem to fix it

Third letter: It was their problem to fix and did so temporarily.


There were more letters. I expressed that they were responsible because they were.

A. Fully aware of the issue
B. Aware a complaint had been made about the temporary fix
C. Could provide no documents relating to the temporary fix

Despite this they implied it was my partners fault for knowing about the road (I pointed out if it was safe like they said, he wouldn't have to know to drive around it, especially since this would mean driving on the opposite side of the road at a junction) and that despite me formally complaining about the repair done, they declined to go back to evaluate as it was passed off as safe.

Do you think it is worth pursuing? Before doing so I wanted a second opinion on my circumstances.

You say your partner was not aware of it, yet you were and he had picked you up from work, yet you hadn't suggested that he be mindful of the hazard

misssarahleigh

DUTR wrote: »

You say your partner was not aware of it, yet you were and he had picked you up from work, yet you hadn't suggested that he be mindful of the hazard

No. It was late, I'd had a terrible day. I was complaining about having to stay 3 hours late and just didn't think to mention.

misssarahleigh

Iceweasel wrote: »

If you are a member of the AA or RAC they should be able to fight this for you.

No, neither of those I'm afraid.

AdrianC

Over what period did you send the three letters? When did your partner hit this cover?

Your photos appear to have been taken nine months ago, and don't show any great risk to a vehicle - nor do they appear to be very large or difficult to drive around.

Sorry, but the ultimate responsibility always lies with the driver.

forgotmyname

Springs breaking is a common issue on a lot of modern cars.

I had one snap whilst turning into a car park, Smooth surface and barely moving as the old guy in the car in front mis-judged the entrance and scraped the wall (easily done the entrance is only 12ft wide and his Fiesta must have been the same width)...

Age of the spring and -5c temps probably helped.

misssarahleigh

AdrianC wrote: »

Over what period did you send the three letters? When did your partner hit this cover?

Your photos appear to have been taken nine months ago, and don't show any great risk to a vehicle - nor do they appear to be very large or difficult to drive around.

Sorry, but the ultimate responsibility always lies with the driver.

The cover is actually in the middle of one side of the road when turning left. A little difficult to see from the photograph as it doesn't show the surround but it's impossible to drive around unless you use the opposite side of the road. Even going over it in first gear brought a bump on most days.

He hit the cover at the end of January. The council took so long to reply to each letter it's got to this month (about 4-6 weeks wait for each reply). The councils letters were also very incoherent. Missing questions, getting information wrong in it's defense so I had to send quite a few to clarify the details they were using.

I sent the council an email expressing my concern their repair was inadequate on the 13.01.15. I forwarded it on the 20th and then 27th. They replied to my email on the 5.02.15 simply saying it had been passed onto the water board (who they believed owned this).

BigBopper

misssarahleigh wrote: »

The cover is actually in the middle of one side of the road when turning left. A little difficult to see from the photograph as it doesn't show the surround but it's impossible to drive around unless you use the opposite side of the road. Even going over it in first gear brought a bump on most days.

He hit the cover at the end of January. The council took so long to reply to each letter it's got to this month (about 4-6 weeks wait for each reply). The councils letters were also very incoherent. Missing questions, getting information wrong in it's defense so I had to send quite a few to clarify the details they were using.

I sent the council an email expressing my concern their repair was inadequate on the 13.01.15. I forwarded it on the 20th and then 27th. They replied to my email on the 5.02.15 simply saying it had been passed onto the water board (who they believed owned this).

Have you tried to claim of the right authority?

misssarahleigh

BigBopper wrote: »

Have you tried to claim of the right authority?

They were incorrect. The believed it to be the water board but then discovered it was their property (and subsequently tarmacked over the entire thing)

straighttalker

If that defect in the carriageway caused our spring to fail, I would think that the spring was on its way out in the first place. There's no way you would be able to prove that the grid caused a perfectly good spring to fail. I drv E my car up and down kerbs which are higher than that and don't expect any part of the suspension to fail.